Articles by Girish Anand

March 23, 2017

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Congress Overturns OSHA 5-Year Recordkeeping Rule

Congress has rejected the so-called Volks Rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that mandated businesses retain records of injuries and illnesses for five years instead of the six-month period of the statute of limitations in the OSH Act. Using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the Senate completed the legislative process with a 50-48 vote yesterday. President Tru...

March 22, 2017

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Another Judge Upholds DOL Fiduciary Rule

Saying she found "the plaintiffs' position on the merits unpersuasive," U.S. District Chief Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn in Dallas has dismissed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule (aka "Conflict of Interest" rule), which is set to take effect April 10. The request for injunction was sought by several trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of...

March 22, 2017

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11th Circuit Court Holds that Title VII Does Not Cover Sexual-Orientation Discrimination

Joining every other circuit court except D.C., the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation. “[W]e are bound to follow a binding precedent in this Circuit unless and until it is overruled by this court en banc or by the Supreme Court,” the three-judge panel ruled on March 10. However, the ...

March 22, 2017

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HHS Secretary, CMS Administrator Reach Out to States on Improving Medicaid

Seema Verma was recently sworn in as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). After her swearing-in ceremony, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price, M.D., and Verma took their first joint action, cosigning a letter to the nation’s governors affirming the department’s intent to work with states to improve the Medicaid program and the lives of th...

March 21, 2017

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HHS Launches Page to Explain Benefits of ACA 'Replace and Repeal'

This week the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department launched a new page on HHS.gov highlighting the regulatory and administrative actions the department is taking to relieve the burden of the current healthcare law and support a patient-centered healthcare system. “We’re taking action to improve choices for patients, stabilize the individual and small-group insurance markets, and expand a...

March 20, 2017

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Disney to Pay Costume Characters $3.8 Million in Back Wages

Walt Disney World in Florida has been hit with wage theft and other allegations and has agreed to pay $3.8 million in back wages to 16,339 of its costume characters, such as Mickey, Goofy and the like. This comes after the Department of Labor (DOL) found that Disney was deducting the cost of the costumes from the employees' paychecks. Such deductions are legal under the Fair Labor Standards Ac...

March 19, 2017

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Comment Period on DOL Fiduciary Rule Delay Closes

The public comment period on the proposal by the Department of Labor (DOL) to delay implementation of its Fiduciary Rule came to a close Friday afternoon, with at least 565 letters received. The proposal, if it becomes final, will push back the April 10 start date for the Fiduciary Rule by 60 days, or to June 9. The Fiduciary Rule requires investment advisers marketing retirement plans to put ...

March 19, 2017

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E-Verify Records from 2006 to Be Purged March 31

Employers who have employee records on the E-Verify database dating to Dec 31, 2006, and earlier are advised that these records will be purged on March 31. The system is designed to purge records once they reach 10 years in age to avoid any possible compromise of information. Through March 31, employers can download a record of the employee files that are being purged. With that record, they c...

March 16, 2017

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Amid Repeal and Replace Talk, Obamacare Enrollments Crater

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed this week that enrollment in Obamacare health plans dropped half a million from the year before, and came in 1.7 million below expectations, with 12.2 million enrollees by the Jan. 31 end of open enrollment. Expectations were for 13.8 million. Four of every five who signed up for health plans received subsidies, i.e., 10.1 million of ...

March 14, 2017

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EEOC Launches Online Inquiry and Appointment System

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that five of its offices have launched a new Online Inquiry and Appointment System. The system will allow individuals to electronically submit initial inquiries and requests for intake interviews with the agency. Initial inquiries and intake interviews are typically the first steps for individuals seeking to file a charge of discrimi...

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About author

Girish Anand

Recent Articles

Practical articles on HR, Safety, compliance, and people operations—written for real businesses, not legal textbooks.

U.S. Department of Labor Officially Restores Prior Overtime Exemption Rules

On May 14th, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it has officially rescinded the 2024 overtime exemption rules. Specifically, the WHD published a technical amendment to restore previous 2019 regulations that dictated overtime exemptions for...

NLRB General Counsel Takes Action to Tackle Current Case Backlog

On May 6th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and NLRB General Counsel Crystal Stowe Carey announced the bulk transfer of thousands of labor practice cases. Specifically, this action fulfills an initiative signed by the NLRB General Counsel earlier this year. Overall, the initiative...

Privacy Agency Invites Comments from Businesses on the CCPA’s Usage of Personal Data

Recently, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) issued a call for comments on the current state of personal data collection under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Specifically, the invitation to deliver remarks was issued on April 20th, 2026. The information provided by the...

DOL Proposes New Joint Employer Rule To Unify Standards Under Federal Labor Laws

In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule to establish a single, clear standard for determining when joint-employer status applies under three major federal laws: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Migrant and Seasonal...

DOL Updates Enforcement Approach for Employee Benefit Plans: What Employers Should Know

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a significant change in its enforcement of employee benefit plan rules. The DOL will now focus more closely on serious violations that harm workers and retirees, meaning compliant employers may face less scrutiny under the updated approach.

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Articles by Girish Anand